Delhi High Court imposes stiff penalties in medical devices counterfeiting case

The Delhi High Court recently restrained Pritamdas Arora, trading as M/s Medserve (“Defendant”) from manufacturing, selling or dealing in counterfeit medical devices bearing Johnson & Johnson’s (“Plaintiff”) trademarks, SURGICEL, ETHICON and LIGACLIP. Further, the court has awarded Johnson & Johnson damages of INR 3.34 crores (approximately) for the Defendants’ counterfeiting activities.

The Plaintiff, through its subsidiary Ethicon, manufactures and sells medical devices bearing the trade marks, SURGICEL, ETHICON and LIGAGLIP, employing a distinctive trade dress for its SURGICEL products. In 2019, following a complaint from a University of Kentucky neurosurgeon regarding irregularities in SURGICEL instruments used during a brain surgery, the Plaintiff discovered that the devices were counterfeit. Investigation revealed that University of Kentucky had procured these counterfeit products from a Florida based entity, which had in turn purchased them from a UAE based entity. The UAE based entity identified the Defendants as the source of the counterfeit products. The Plaintiff’s analysis of the counterfeit products revealed that they were inadequately oxidized, non-sterile and contaminated with bacterial infections.

The reports of the local commissions appointed by the court indicated that that the Defendants had sold approximately 2,50,000 counterfeit medical devices between 2017 and 2019 to at least nine (9) countries. The Defendants had engaged third-party manufacturers in Turkey and China to manufacture these counterfeit medical devices. The court also noted that the Defendants were also repackaging expired medical products with counterfeit labels bearing false future expiry dates. Notably, the court condemned the Defendants’ response to complaints about the infections caused due to these counterfeit surgical products, which involved instructing their business associates to resolve such complaints through bribery, demonstrating a blatant disregard for public health and safety.

Despite initially attempting to defend their activities by feigning innocence, the Defendants subsequently evaded the court proceedings. Even though the court directed the Delhi Police and Cyber Cell to trace the Defendants and determine their current activities, their attempts were unsuccessful.

The court concluded that the Defendants’ conduct demonstrated a premeditated intent to deceive consumers. Consequently, apart from granting a permanent injunction, the court also imposed damages of INR 2.34 crores as compensatory damages, and INR 1 crore as exemplary damages in favour of the Plaintiff.

Johnson & Johnson v. Pritamdas Arora T/A M/s Medserve, CS(COMM) 570/2019, judgment dated March 11, 2025

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